Fighting Fierce
by Louisiana Stephenic
Summary: Our favorite detective duos go head to head and have to work together. Both don't like following the rules but which two will shock the others with their actions? Will they manage to solve the case or will they fail for the first time?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, Louisiana here! I was inspired by the other crossovers here and decided to make my own. Our favorite detectives all combine but will they do so harmoniously or will egos clash? I think we all know the answer to that :P **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skulduggery Pleasant or Sherlock. I really wish I did but sadly I don't :( **

**ENJOY THIS CHAPTER! **

"Wake up, wake up."

"One more hour." Valkyrie yawned and waved away the gloved hand that shook her.

"In an hour the plane will be taking off again." Skulduggery replied.

"I've only had forty minutes of sleep in the last forty eight hours." She yawned and reluctantly sat up.

"Come on Val. We need to get off now." He turned and walked away.

Valkyrie groaned and got off the plane seat. It was hard enough to wake up after sleeping in a car let alone the soft chairs of first class. She grabbed her can of sprite on the way out. It was basically full.

She spotted Skulduggery walking through a door that led away from all the security checks and such. She casually followed him and had to jog to catch up with him. He was walking faster than normal and with longer strides.

"What's got you so tense?" She asked, finally settling into the rhythm and keeping up with him.

"We're about to go to Buckingham Palace, besides that fact, how did they manage to find us?" His facade raised an eyebrow at her. "I can understand if they found Ghastly or Anton but us?"

"Detectives Pleasant and Cain, we need your help with an important and delicate situation." She quoted the letter that had found its way to Finbar Wrong and then to them.

He sighed. "I'm insulted that they managed to find us."

"We're getting sloppy in our old age." Valkyrie laughed and he rolled his eyes.

They exited the airport and found their way blocked by a big black hummer with a man in a black suit holding a piece of cardboard. Written on it was…

_Detectives_

"Detective Pleasant?" The man asked.

"My partner," He went to introduce Valkyrie.

"Detective Cain. We're instructed to take you to be briefed." The man gestured to the car and got into the front passenger seat.

Skulduggery gestured to her and she slid in. The car was really clean, as if it'd never been used before.

She looked over at Skulduggery as the car started moving. She raised an eyebrow.

"This is going to be an interesting experience." He commented. "Working on a case without using magic."

"Tell me we'll make sure this case is worth it first." Valkyrie whined.

"Yes, we'll make sure the case concerns us in some way. If not we have much more important ones back home. I mostly said yes because I was curious." Skulduggery replied.

"Oh good." She smiled widely and started searching through her bag. "Now, hold my mirror still."

She gave him a pretty big mirror and he obediently held it for her.

"You never used to wear make-up." He grumbled.

"I started wearing make-up when I turned nineteen." he nodded. "That was twenty eight years ago." She put on a bit of powder, mascara and eye liner.

"I still think it's unnecessary."

"Well I think your obsession with hats is unnecessary." He just dropped the mirror in response.

When they reached the palace Valkyrie almost gasped in excitement and awe, almost. It wasn't as impressive as other castles she'd seen let alone as big. She was excited to see the guards but they were a disappointment. She couldn't even get out and make funny faces at them.

The hummer drove straight through the gates and stopped outside a small side door. The car doors were opened for them and Valkyrie got out bringing her small bag with her.

"My name is Leon Murfey you may call me Leon." The man that greeted them was very good looking and his accent was adorable. He had brown hair and green eyes, a rather nice combination. "If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer them as best I can."

"Nice to meet you." Skulduggery shook his hand and Valkyrie smiled and did the same.

"If you follow me I'll take you to the briefing room. The other two detectives are already there so we can start immediately." Leon turned to walk through the door but Skulduggery stopped him.

"_Other detectives_? We were not told we would be working with others."

"I'm sorry, I was told you had been. I'm terribly sorry but four minds are better than two." Leon then led them through the door and down the corridor.

Valkyrie noticed Skulduggery glaring at his back.

"We discussed this on the plane." She hissed. "You said you were going to be polite."

"And I have been. I shook his hand."

She rolled her eyes and hid her smile from him.

"Please place your bag and any metal objects you have on you in this tub and walk through the metal detector." Leon instructed.

Skulduggery placed his briefcase in the tub and walked through without it going off. His suit material must have hidden his gun. Valkyrie placed her little bag in the tub, chucked her ring in after it and then walked through the metal detector. Her gun remained hidden as well and she almost smiled.

She picked up her ring again and put it on.

"Why do you still wear that?" Skulduggery asked his lip curling in distaste.

"You know why." She snapped.

"A little token of him." He rolled his eyes.

"You know he died saving me." She hissed in response. "We can discuss this later. We're in Buckingham palace."

Leon coughed and the two turned to him, both smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry." She muttered.

"If you would follow me again." He walked off down the corridor and into a room around a corner. They were in the heart of the palace but not surrounded by luxurious furniture. The corridors were metal and concrete, completely barren of life almost. She could feel the lays of earth above her and knew they were underground.

They followed him into the room and froze, well Valkyrie did. Skulduggery smoothly walked up behind one of the two empty chairs.

There were three people seated at the table. Two huffed and looked away from each other and had obviously been arguing, while the other just looked up at them. The one that hadn't been arguing had short blonde hair and bluish eyes. His brow was furrowed and his ears slightly big. He stood up and smiled friendlily at them.

The other 'detective' had curly rich black hair. His eyes were a striking greeny blue colour and high cheekbones. His eyes passed over them critically and Valkyrie stood up straighter and met his gaze. It was hard but she managed it.

The last man was Mycroft Holmes, the man who'd sent the letter. He had really short brown hair and had hazel eyes. He wore a pinstriped suit, luckily Skulduggery wasn't wearing his, and he had umbrellas on his tie. His expression was cold, icy and business like.

"Detective Pleasant, Detective Cain, it's good of you to finally join us." Mycroft smiled.

**I hope you're enjoying this so please review and if I get some I'll update the next chapters :D the detectives will meet in the next one sooooo REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! **


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter just got longer and longer :P Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed and liked this story :D Here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it…..  
These chapters will be in Valkyrie and John's point of view. It's too hard to write Skulduggery and Sherlock :D**

**ENJOY….**

John shifted painfully in his chair. At first it'd been awkwardly like always when Sherlock and Mycroft started arguing but now he was just bored. They'd started arguing about normal things but now were grumbling about childhood problem. He didn't actually care anymore. He was wondering about the two detectives that would be accompanying them on the case.

He was worrying about Sherlock being himself and annoying the two. It would be a long case for them but for John it'd just be a normal day.

The door opened and two people walked in.

One was a tall man in an impeccably tailored suit. He had green eyes, dirty brown hair and high cheekbones. His skin was slightly waxy though. Maybe he wore sunscreen. The man was really thin as well.

The other detective was a woman. She had dark black hair and dark brown eyes. She wore tight black leather pants and an amazing jacket. She was incredibly good looking, incredibly. He could easily see the muscles beneath her pants.

But other than that he couldn't really tell much about them. John was looking forward to asking Sherlock about the two. He wouldn't mind hearing him work out everything about them.

"Detectives this is my younger brother Sherlock Holmes." Mycroft introduced Sherlock. He stood up and shook the two's hands.

"Consulting detective." Sherlock told them.

"And that means?" Detective Cain asked.

"It means when the police are out of their depth, which is always, they consult me." Sherlock told them slightly coldly.

"Interesting, since they then had to call us." Detective Pleasant answered.

"And this is Doctor John Watson." Mycroft quickly moved the conversation on.

"Hello." John smiled brightly and shook the Irish detectives' hands firmly. They didn't say anything insulting to him which was a relief. They all then sat down.

The tension in the air was thick but everyone tried to act as if it was normal. John however was squirming in his seat. They all looked at Mycroft expectantly.

"I don't think I need to explain how secret this matter is." He began.

"Mr Holmes you do understand that me and Detective Cain have pressing cases back in Ireland." Skulduggery interrupted. "We would like to look at the crime scene or dead body before we decide whether or not this is worth our time."

"This is a very secret matter. If you hear the facts now you must stay." Mycroft frowned.

"You asked us here because you know we're the best. We have other matters that need our attention too." Detective Cain added. "We're very flattered of course but we do have other things on our plate."

"And what could those possibly be?" Sherlock asked.

She paused for a minute and then smiled. "My friend has just got engaged."

"So you're willing to leave the world to be destroyed for a wedding?" Mycroft demanded angrily.

"How is this case going to destroy the world?" Detective Pleasant asked. John realized that the two had strange names. He wondered what their first names were.

Mycroft took a deep breath to calm the anger that John knew was raging inside him. "Okay, there has been a murder and a theft."

"Of what and where?" Sherlock asked.

"Who died?" Pleasant asked. The two turned to each other and glared.

"A man named Alexandar Tumiman. He was working in the tower of London when there was a break in. An artifact was stolen." Mycroft explained. "He was just a janitor."

"What artifact was stolen?" Pleasant asked before Sherlock could.

"It was called the clock of the ancients." Mycroft told them. "Have we managed to capture your attention enough for you to stay?" He asked sarcastically.

"Actually you have." Cain smiled brightly. "Can we see photos now?"

He laughed bitterly and got out two pictures. They showed the clock of the ancients. It was a small blue sphere with a circular circlet connected to the outside of it. It looked like some sort of metallic rock. He couldn't tell how big it was because the background was white. But he could still see some sort of beauty in it.

"What was its significance?" John asked.

"I was an artifact that was priceless. America gave it to us to settle their debts but now it's missing. Without it we'll go to war with them. Another war will wipe out the entire world." Mycroft explain the enormity of the situation.

"How did the Americans get the clock?" Pleasant frowned.

"I don't know but we need to get it back and you should be able to do it. If not we go to war." Mycroft then left them after that speech.

"Do you know where your hotel is?" Leon smiled and asked the Irish detectives.

"Umm, yes I believe Skul's got the details." Cain smiled flirtatiously.

"Yes I've got everything. Thank you Leon we'll contact you if we need any information. Do you have a car ready?" Pleasant interrupted.

"Yes it's back out the door you came in. I guess I'll take my leave now." Leon smiled tightly and left the room.

They all fell into an uncomfortable silence.

"So? Where to now?" John asked.

"We should go to," Sherlock began.

"Can we get a coffee, or maybe a hot chocolate?" Cain interrupted.

"Yes, we should. I need to make a few phone calls anyway." Pleasant stood. "Mr Holmes, do you know any good coffee shops?"

"Yes I do. It's called Speedy's Sandwich Bar and Cafe." Sherlock smiled tightly and led the way outside. John walked in step with him and the Irish detectives walked behind them. No one spoke as they got in the car and no one said anything as they took a seat at a table.

Mrs Hudson smiled and went to walk up to the table but John shook his head discretely. She got the message and kept her distance.

"I'll get you your coffee." Pleasant walked to the counter and Sherlock followed him. John was left at the table with Cain.

"So, you got a first name?" He asked awkwardly. She had really pretty dark eyes and a cute hesitant smile.

"Valkyrie and he's Skulduggery Pleasant."

"Valkyrie?" she nodded, "and Skulduggery?"

"I know they're strange names but we're strange people." She told him.

"What kind of cases do you normally work on?" He asked.

"Umm, we have a pretty wide range but I'll summarize it with one word. Psychopaths, people who are crazy and want crazy things." She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and twisted the black ring on her finger.

"How long have you and Skulduggery been partners?" He looked over at Sherlock and Skulduggery. They were discretely looking the other up and down. Both were trying to get the upper hand but Sherlock would definitely shock everyone like always.

"Umm, since I was twelve." She said absently, watching the other detectives too.

"How old are you?" He tried to act casual.

"You do know that it's rude to ask a lady her age." She smirked.

"Of course, sorry." He apologized.

"How old do you think I am?"

"Umm," he had to be really careful now. He might insult her if he chose too high but he wanted to be right. "Twenty five?"

"If that's what you think then I am twenty five." She laughed.

Sherlock and Skulduggery came back to the table. Sherlock passed John his coffee and then sat down drinking his tea. Skulduggery only had one coffee that he gave to Valkyrie and then sat down.

"Are you not thirsty Skulduggery?" John asked.

"I had one on the plane and have phone calls to make." He smiled and took out his phone. He waited for someone to pick up.

"Yes we are in England." He paused. "I do think it's worth our while." Another pause. "Alexandar Tumiman, no, are you sure? He worked in the tower of London."

"You're not allowed to talk about the case." Sherlock muttered, not very worried.

"The clock of the ancients. Okay, call us if you hear anything. Ask China for us." Skulduggery summed up his conversation.

"Send Tanith our love." Valkyrie interrupted.

"We have more pressing matters." Skulduggery hissed. "Valkyrie says we send Tanith our love." He paused. "Of course I'm not sending my love." And he hung up.

"Who was that?" John asked.

"Ghastly." He answered and looked around the café.

_Who the hell was Ghastly? _

"So how long have you been detectives?" Sherlock asked. _Was he making conversation?_

"We've been detectives for many many years. We're the best out there." Valkyrie answered.

"Oh really?" John asked, they were about to get such a surprise. "Go on Sherlock."

"You two have known each other for a long time. You either live with each other or spend nights at the other's house on a regular basis. You are not going out but have an incredibly close relationship. You travel around a lot and are used to working for days without sleep. You're not used to working with others and don't appreciate the change in schedule. You Valkyrie have a best friend which is more like a sister than friend and you Skulduggery hate China. For whatever reason I don't know." Sherlock commented. He hardly paused, just rattled on.

John was slightly disappointed though. He'd heard him say much more interesting things but now he was slightly boring.

"Your ring Valkyrie is very interesting piece of your attire." John noticed Valkyrie stiffen as Sherlock continued. "You've had it for many years. It had been yours and when your boyfriend died you kept it. Skulduggery doesn't like the ring, either because he didn't like the man who'd given it to you or he thinks you should move on. Skulduggery is protective towards you but will allow you to fight your own battles and run into whatever dangerous situation he thinks you could get out of. Long story short you have a strong relationship but both have sad or dark backgrounds."

The table fell into silence. Sherlock had shocked yet another person but not like normal. This time he'd looked into someone's relationship. John was almost proud of him.

"He wasn't my boyfriend, just a good friend." Valkyrie muttered. "How did you know all that?"

"Observation Valkyrie, and hearing." Skulduggery answer. "Do you mind explaining?"

"The way you're both so easy around each other means you're around each other a lot. You're not going out because if you were he would have told you that you had a smudge of mascara on your eyelid. If you weren't incredibly close he would have pointed it out as well. You Valkyrie have spoken about Tanith twice already and it was important enough for you to ask about her and such. You Skulduggery hate China, why?" Sherlock began explaining.

"The China I'm talking about is China Sorrows. She is a person I don't like." He stated and flicked an invisible piece of lint off his arm. "Explain how you know about the ring."

"The ring is very comfortable on Valkyrie's finger and even with Ireland's bad weather you have a tan line, indicating that you've worn it for a long time. If he was your boyfriend and you'd left him you'd have gotten rid of it and not have worn it so often. If he had left you you'd have never kept it but to have kept it so long would have indicated some sort of tragic event. Example, him dying. Your relationship with Skulduggery is obvious to anyone with ears or brains or eyes."

Silence.

John smiled and looked at the two detectives. They just stared at Sherlock. No one saying anything. Valkyrie took a sip from her coffee.

"Why did you pick up on my ring and not one of Skulduggery's possessions?" She eventually asked.

"So far it's the only obvious thing I could find. You both are really good at hiding secrets." Sherlock replied.

Skulduggery chuckled. "You don't know the half of it."

**Okay, what did you think? I'll try and update as soon as I can but it will be difficult to be a constant updater :D I hope you leave a nice review! Other chapters are entering in the next chapter and there will be sparks flying!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I know it's been a while but I've been a lot busier than normal :) I will try to update more frequently and to the best of my ability :D I hope you enjoy this chapter…. **

"So, how do you know Sherlock and John?" The woman asked Valkyrie. They were walking through the halls of St Bartholomew Hospital to the morgue. Sherlock had gracefully agreed to take them to see the dead body of Alexandar Tumiman.

Skulduggery, Sherlock and John were walking in a line behind the two women. John looked uncomfortable, Sherlock was broodingly silent and Skulduggery was smiling. Valkyrie was walking with Molly Hooper. The woman had mousy hair and was small. She was quite pretty but lacked confidence.

"We're working on a case together." Valkyrie told her.

"Alex Tumiman's case?" Valkyrie nodded. "He's a big one." Molly continued. "Not as in weight size he's actually quite skinny." She quickly corrected. "We don't know how he died yet. We're going to have to really cut him up. I mean autopsy in a searching way. To find out what killed him." She trailed off.

Valkyrie almost winced for the poor woman.

"So there weren't any bruises or anything on the body?" Valkyrie asked.

"No, nothing it was quite strange." Molly informed her. "It even looked like he'd been thrown through a window but didn't get a scratch."

"Hmmm." She nodded as if it was interesting but she'd been thrown out of quite a few windows and hadn't been covered in scratches. "How do you know them?"

"He was killed and I have to do his autopsy." Molly frowned.

"I meant Sherlock and John." Valkyrie interrupted.

"Ohh," the woman blushed. "Sherlock often needs to look at the dead bodies to prove cases and such."

"So you knew Sherlock before you met John?"

"Yes." Valkyrie couldn't find anything to say to Molly's reply and they were silent. Valkyrie shifted and looked over her shoulder at Skulduggery.

He shrugged and made shooing gestures with his hands. She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.

"So, do you like working here? Do you find it creepy spending heaps of time with a dead person?" Valkyrie asked Molly. She heard Skulduggery chuckle and she smirked proudly.

"I love working here, I think. It's easier for me to be in the dead's presence than the living." Molly answered.

Valkyrie stared at the woman with her peripheral vision. Would she suddenly kill her so she was more comfortable? Luckily they reached the morgue and entered the cold room.

"He's in number twelve. I've got to go now. It was lovely seeing you." Molly smiled and waved.

"Bye Molly." Valkyrie waved.

"Bye Sherlock."

"See ya." Sherlock said and Molly hurried from the room.

"Wow she is weird." Valkyrie announced after she was sure Molly had left.

"You do realize that you find it a lot easier to be around old people than those your age." Skulduggery pointed out.

"Shut up. That's just because they're more interesting than those my age." Valkyrie snapped.

"You don't know anyone your age but Melancholia."

"Yeah well she's the only interesting one." She sneered at him and looked for the right door to Alexandar Tumiman's dead body.

"Only because she tried to kill you and managed to kill me." Skulduggery laughed. "You really need to get out more."

"I get out just fine." Valkyrie yelled.

"Oh really. The last time you went out was your birthday last year." Skulduggery pulled out Alexandar's body and started poking at the man's face.

"The last time I went out was the night before last. Me and Tanith went to Fuzzard . We got picked up by like a million guys." She told him.

"What?" His head snapped up. "You said you were getting an early night."

"Yeah because you would have gone mental if you found out." Valkyrie shrugged helplessly.

"Valkyrie, you are almost an adult. You are free to live your own life. I've got what I need. Let's go." Skulduggery announced and started walking out, leaving the body out.

Valkyrie's head snapped from the body back to Skulduggery and now to Sherlock and John leaving. They were following the skeleton.

"Wait," she hurried after them. "What did you find?"

"He's one of your least favorite people." He said over his shoulder.

"What?" Realization dawned on her and she almost froze. How could he have died then and how could she have missed that fact.

"Who are your least favorite people?" John asked.

"Umm," Valkyrie shrugged. She couldn't really tell him that Alexandar Tumiman was a vampire.

She took a long shower and washed her hair. When she came out she found Skulduggery sitting bolt upright in a chair. He was staring straight ahead.

Valkyrie smiled and got her make-up kit. She pulled out the blush and sneaked up to him. He would freak when he woke up. She'd better hid somewhere with John and Sherlock until he cooled down.

"Don't even think about it."

"Ahhh." She jumped and backed away quickly. She took a deep breath. "You scared the life out of me."

"I was not meditating." Skulduggery told her.

"I know that now." She snapped. "What were you doing?"

"I was thinking about the vampire." He muttered. "Why would one be working in the Tower? Why, it makes no sense unless he was after the clock. But that doesn't make any sense either."

"What are we going to do now?" She asked and started picking at the chips on the table.

"I've already gotten in contact with one of the main vampires here which I will chat with tomorrow." He told her.

"_You will chat with? _What am I going to be doing?" She asked.

"You will go with Sherlock and John. Apparently they have some information about who may now have the clock and if so I need you there. You have Ancient blood in you and you should be able to find the clock easily." Skulduggery told her. "I can trust you but not them completely."

She sighed. "I, I'm just sick of all this ancient business. First there was the scepter, then the faceless ones, then the scepter again and now a clock. What the hell is this blood clock?"

He chuckled. "Think of this as some sort of fun field trip, almost like a blast from the past."

Silence.

"I hate it when you try to be positive." She muttered.

"Fine, we're all going to fail because you can never deal with one simple problem. It just keeps creeping up on you. You can't run away from your blood either, eventually it'll come out and seep through your skin. Soon it'll be running out your ears the colour of brown red dirt." He started. "Soon we will all see,"

"STOP!" She yelled. "I can't stand it anymore skeleton."

"Your fingernails will fall out and blood will,"

"OH NO YOU DON"T." She launched herself at him and he burst out laughing, only for his chuckles to be cut off by her fist in his face.

**Hahahaha, I don't know whether to say poor Skulduggery or poor Valkyrie :D Please feel free to review and put in requests :P I hope you enjoyed it :D **


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR! Finally got around to writing another chapter so I hope you like it and enjoy it. Please don't hate on anything :D and leave a nice review at the end. Creative crit is welcome. ENJOY…**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Alexandar Tumiman :P**

Valkyrie shifted awkwardly in the seat. Her butt was going numb and the silence was almost suffocating her. The longest she'd ever kept silent when not having to was one hour. She had now just reached three hours. She watched her watch as it ticked up to two o'clock and she groaned. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she found an opening.

"Why do you keep doing that?" She asked quickly before the chance left.

"Doing what?" John asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

Valkyrie ignored him and looked at Sherlock. "You keep looking at me."

"Miss Cain, when I first met John I told him his life story. I got everything right except the fact that Harry was short for Harriett. When I look at you I can't tell very much." Sherlock explained.

"So basically you're trying to work out who and what I am?"

He nodded.

"Well that ain't gonna happen. I'm very good at keeping secrets and I'm going to keep them from you." She broke it to him.

"Just wait," he told her. "By the time we have finished this case I will know."

"Want to bet on that?" She raised an eyebrow challengingly.

He smiled. "Oh Miss Cain I would love to. How about one hundred pounds if what I say manages to surprise you?"

"Alright, deal." She smiled, confident that he wouldn't manage to shock her.

"Ah Sherlock. Is that your confidant?" John interrupted.

Valkyrie looked out the coffee shop window. Striding towards them was a woman. She was tall with her hair pinned elegantly up. She wore bright red lipstick and walked with her hips swaying side to side excessively but drawing your eyes to her shapely hips that no doubt most men would find alluring. She wore a tight black short dress and whenever she blinked you noticed her perfectly applied eye makeup.

Valkyrie immediately disliked the woman.

"I thought she was dead." John gasped.

"Who is she?" She asked quickly, hoping to get an answer before_

The door opened and the woman smiled revealing straight white teeth. Valkyrie ran her tongue along her teeth. More than half of them had been knocked out and were now false.

"Sherlock." The woman greeted eagerly and she hugged him. "And John." She turned her smile on the doctor and he visibly shifted in his chair, keeping his eyes on the table. "Who is this?"

Valkyrie stood up sharply. She tossed her hair off her shoulder and held out her gloved hand. "Valkyrie Cain."

"Irene Adler." The woman's smile turned self assured and she lightly shook her hand.

"You want a drink before we sit down. No doubt the walk was long and it is hot out." Valkyrie smiled and sat down in the corner.

"No thank you." Irene Adler sat down gracefully. "I have a rather full schedule. I hope we can get this over quickly."

"Of course. Alexandar Tumiman, what do you know of him?" Sherlock asked.

Irene frowned. "I've never heard of him."

"He worked in the tower of London?" John supplied.

"I truly don't know."

Valkyrie's phone vibrated and she glanced down.

_AT vampire name Dougal  
SP_

She smiled and sent back a quick thank you.

"What about a man named Dougal?" She interrupted.

"Excuse me Valerie?" Irene asked.

"If Valkyrie is too difficult to say you may call me Cain." She said in a happy tone. "Dougal, what do you know of him and his job?"

Irene stared at her for a minute or two. Valkyrie's expression was serious and unflinching. Irene looked away and took a sip of Sherlock's water.

"I did know a Dougal and he did tell me of his job and what he did but I found out more from another man." Irene said slowly. "But you and I both know the price of information do we not Cain?"

"Let's just stop for a moment." Valkyrie snapped. "I'm played this game many times with people much more experienced than you Adler. I'll tell you this," she hissed, "life is more expensive than information. I'll let you leave this café with all your bones intact if you tell me all you know."

"I do not appreciate being threatened."

"And I don't appreciate time wasters." Her voice was dangerously low. "Now tell me unless you want to leave in an ambulance."

"Dougal was one of my clients. He was a brooding fellow with not too good a sense of humor. He told me that he worked in the Tower guarding something his family had guarded for generations. He never told me what it was and if I pushed too hard he'd get angry and I wouldn't see him for weeks afterwards." Irene looked out of the window breathing deeply and glaring at nothing.

"Don't stop now." Valkyrie told her.

"I found out most from another man though. His name was Kuro Ryu." She visibly shivered. "He is a professor at Oxford University. He told me of the clock or the ancients."

"What did he tell you?"

"Just that it was an artifact from long long ago." Irene looked down in defeat. "That's all I know."

"Did Kuro Ryu look evil to you?" Valkyrie chewed the inside of her cheek. _What kind of a question is did he look evil? _She mentally kicked herself.

"No, he was an old man, crippled as well."

"Old men can be evil psychopaths too. I know from experience." She told her. "Do you have any more information for us?"

"No." Irene snapped. She stood up and smiled, back to being confident. "I'm almost late for an appointment. It was lovely seeing you again Sherlock. Perhaps we could have dinner soon. Farewell." She turned on her heel and stalked out of the shop.

The three were silent as they watched her walk off.

"What gives you the right to threaten someone like that?" Sherlock demanded.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Valkyrie asked.

"We're not quite sure but there's definitely something strange going on between them." John explained.

"Okay." She nodded.

"Who's Dougal?" John asked.

"That's another name Alexandar used." She explained. "I'll call Skulduggery and find out where he is."

"No time, we need to go to Oxford and talk to this professor there." Sherlock interrupted. "It'll take us over an hour."

Valkyrie cursed. A whole hour in a car on one of the first hot days in over five months: why did she have the worst luck? "One day, one day a case will send me sun baking on a beach." She promised herself.

**What did you think? Please don't hate me for putting Irene Adler into it but I don't really like her and just couldn't resist Valkyrie messing her about :D Please review….. I'll try to write another chapter soon :P **


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, sorry it has been way too long since I last updated and this is a short chapter but my sister took the laptop after she just finished exams so I haven't gotten to a computer in a long while. I wanted to tell you guys that I would get back into a routine soon but you'll just have to wait a couple of weeks.  
Here is a short chapter to keep you amused :P enjoy…. **

John almost had a heart attack when he saw Irene Adler walking up towards them but then Valkyrie started threatening her and for once he thought Irene was not pretty and for once she was not composed.

"So Valkyrie, you said you'd played _this game _to Ms Adler. What did you mean?" John saw an opening to find out more about her and he took it.

"Umm, there's this one woman, named China, and she is much more convincing and devious than Adler was. Not to mention the evil guys I have to deal with at least once every five years." She ranted. At first she was answering the question but she clearly got carried away. "The hardest opponent I've ever had was…"

She paused.

"Baron Vengeous was good, but Sanguine, no Dusk, wait I've got it… Melancholia she was crazy. WAIT!"

"What?" John asked completely shocked at her outburst.

"Definitely Mevolent. He was violent and crazy." She shook her head and shivered. "NO, it was Mr Bliss. His icy blue eyes and incredible strength was terrifying."

"So who was it again?" John frowned.

"Mr Bliss, John. Please keep up with the conversation." Sherlock interrupted from behind the wheel.

"So what was so scary or whatever about him?" John just ignored him and turned back to Valkyrie.

"He was the strongest man in the world. He was evil at one point but went good, he was impossible to kill and his eyes were terrifying. I once saw him get thrown through a brick wall; he just dusted himself off and got up." She explained.

"That's not really possible." Sherlock muttered.

"Believe me, it is." She said angrily. Silence fell in the car. "Are we nearly there yet?"

"I'm sorry Detective Cain but no." Sherlock told her.

Skulduggery ran through the big park hopefully in the direction of the vampire he was hunting. He stopped and listened. The whole wood was silent. He held up his hand, reading the air but felt no movement.

At first the interview was going well until he asked about the clock and suddenly the vampire had attacked him and ran off. It'd taken him completely by surprise but he would never tell Valkyrie that.

A growl came from behind him. He turned his gun flashing in the light before firing. The mockingbird fell down dead.

He tilted his head.

Something crashed into him from behind. He tumbled, brought his legs up under him and stood. His gun was gone but he summoned fire up. The vampire kicked out, he grunted and backed up cradling his side.

The vampire moved with unnatural speed and agility. It dodged around Skulduggery's every strike and kept kicking him and then retreating. He couldn't help but wonder if Dusk would lose a fight with this vampire.

It kicked out again and he grabbed his leg. He pulled the thing off balance, twisted the leg till it locked and then he kicked out.

The vampire screamed and fell to the ground, staring in horror and gasping at his broken leg, the bone sticking out of his skin.

Skulduggery rolled his shoulders and tried to banish his pang of guilt. He knelt down next to the vampire.

"Now, why'd you run away when I mentioned the clock?" Skulduggery asked.

"Because sorcerers have nothing to do with the thing." He growled angrily back and clutched at his leg. "It should have stayed buried. There's a reason there is no record of it!"

**I'm so sorry this is a short chapter but I needed to update something so you don't think I've given up. The next chapter will be of normal length so no hitting or throwing of chairs :P  
Please leave a nice review :D**


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